


Act One

by aquatarius



Series: Super People Au [5]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adventrure, Gen, Super People, Super People Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 12:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10877130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquatarius/pseuds/aquatarius
Summary: John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, and Jade Harley awaken to their powers. But with the UNSC hunting them, they're forced to flee for their lives.(Includes the Beta trolls in the end.)Part of my Super People Au.





	1. Rough Start

**Author's Note:**

> So! This is a part of my super people au and makes references to the general universe, but this is completely able to be read on it's own!! if there's something confusing, please tell me so I can rewrite it to make more sense. 
> 
> This is the homestuck part, where I basically set the stage for everything homestuck. Now that this has been written, well, I can write lots of other stuff for Homestuck! It's broken into three parts, and the end is just the end for this fic. Other stuff can be found on my blog (aquatariuswriter.tumblr.com/aquatariuswrites.tumblr.com) and if you want to make a request for something pertaining to this universe there, I would love it! 
> 
> I'm so proud of finally finishing this. I've worked super hard on it, and it might be ooc or weird or something but I'm just....really proud of finally finishing something of this size.

REPORT:

Subjects [CODENAME] Heir, Knight, and Seer disappeared. Their guardians have disappeared. 

Subject [CODENAME] Page has been located, but subject [CODENAME] Witch is not with him. Search for Witch continues. Possibly on THE ISLAND. (Note: Do we really have to keep capitalizing that?)

Instruction needed. 

Signed, Agent [NAME REDACTED.]

 

* * *

 

 

Something wrong had happened. John Egbert-Crocker was not alive. At least, not by any definition of alive he’d ever heard. He just...existed. He could think. He could move, kinda. If he thought about different areas of his house, he went there. 

But he couldn’t  _ touch _ anything, and he couldn’t walk, and he couldn’t eat, or breathe, or talk, or  _ anything _ . 

John just existed. For a while, he thought he might be a ghost, like in his movies. But that was too terrifying to believe, and he couldn’t remember dying. He remembered...Falling asleep. he got off the computer, and crawled into his bed, and fell asleep. 

And now he was haunting his own house. No, no, not haunting, he wasn’t dead. He couldn’t find his body. He wasn’t dead. 

The worst part (Or one of them) was that he had no sense of time. It could’ve been a century or an hour. Five hours or five thousand. He just didn’t know. 

Dad came into the kitchen at one point, and John tried to reach out and touch him. A breeze ruffled through dad’s hair, and he glanced at the closed window. Then he sat down at the table, pressed his hands against his face, and began to cry. 

John was horrified. He tried everything to touch his dad, to talk to him, to contact him. Anything would’ve worked. But nothing happened. Dad continued to cry, and John watched, isolated and growing more frustrated. Why wasn’t anything working? Why couldn’t he find his body? What was  _ happening _ ?

* * *

 

 

Dave stared at himself. It was uniquely horrifying. What he stared at wasn’t a mirror. It wasn’t a reflection. it  _ was _ himself, four hours ago. Sleeping, completely unaware that his Bro was about to ‘unleash his latent abilities.’

The sleeping Dave snored and turned over in the bed. The waking Dave could only stare. The clock ticked out the seconds, but he didn’t need it to anymore. He  _ knew _ the time, down to the microsecond. He could feel it flowing around it, marching on with a perfect inevitability. 

Slowly, carefully, Dave took hold of that inevitability. He listened to it. He touched it. He understood it. And then he  _ yanked _ on it, pulling himself along and landing himself right in the future, the present, the past. 

The present. Absolutely the present. Not a doubt about it. Bro’s blood smeared on the wall, Dave’s broken sword, the broken door. One dead UNSC woman with her body horribly distorted. Dave looked away from that, out the window. The world had changed. 

He was an Outlaw now. He needed to run. After everything Bro had done, he could be damned for all Dave cared. He could find his own fucking way away from the UNSC and find some other fuck to ‘prepare.’

Dave was going to leave.

Dave was going to survive.

 

* * *

 

 

Sharp scenes that made no sense together assaulted Rose’s sight. She could see nothing except for inky black tendrils that forced vision after vision on her. Dead bodies, live bodies, the same bodies doing different things with the same outcome and the same things with different outcomes, the scent of stick-sweet blood filling her nostrils, screams and laughter and whispers and echoes assaulting her ears, it was too much to  _ take _ . She obeyed blindly, for what else could she do?

She ran, holding her skirt high and pacing herself. Home was gone, obliterated in a sudden hail of missiles, and her mother had to be dead, and she was running from the government. She knew all of that distantly. Just as she knew that it was all because she had Super Powers. 

Some super powers they were. Rather than something useful, like telekinesis, she had these horrors that showed her things she didn’t want to see. They forced their actions on her in an attempt to make a universe that could survive. 

Rose tripped, and her bag spilled open. No time to pick up whatever was in there, no time, no time, no time. Only running, the tendrils told her. She got up and ran, leaving behind her tome and her yarn. 

They told her where to go. They directed her feet and showed her visions of capture, of death, of horrible, horrible things if she didn’t follow their path. Rose followed. She had no choice. She had never had a choice. She understood that now. Distantly, so distantly, she registered that she was crying.

 

* * *

 

 

Bec sat next to Jade, a firm and peaceful guardian. The sun shone down on them. Wind rustled nearby trees. The soft sound of the ocean lapping at the shore accompanied the wind. All was peaceful. 

They watched the helicopters coming for them. They had letters stamped on the side, UNSC, and they looked dangerous. Their sounds cut through the air like bullets did, sharp and dangerous and unwanted. 

Jade reached out with both hands, making a sort of camera square out of both forefingers and both thumbs. She brought them together until they touched. The helicopters fuzzed with green sparks, and then simply shrank until they no longer existed. 

Jade lowered her hands. Bec barked once, and then laid his head down on the ground. One more day, safe.

 

* * *

 

 

REPORT:

Subjects [CODENAME] Zodiac have been captured. Most appear unable to utilize their powers. BEWARE. Subjects [CODENAME] Gemini, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Aquarius are aware of their powers and  **not** afraid to use them. Incidentally, requesting four new cars, three new helicopters, forty two new men, and a clean up crew. 

Subjects [CODENAME] Pisces, Aries, Scorpio, and Taurus are injured. All need immediate medical help upon arrival. 

GEMINI AND AQUARIUS ARE TO BE KEPT APART **AT ALL COSTS** . 

Signed, Agent [NAME REDACTED]

 

* * *

 

 

Slowly, the Castle woke up. Doc began to flex his muscles, gathering documents from everywhere and contacting everyone he could. He carefully contained the other AIs. He made a list of things he needed and repairs that the Castle needed. He checked on the cryogenic storage units. 

Everything seemed to be in order. 

Finally, he looked at what had woken him up. For the first time in a long time, he wished he were still in a human body. They were returning. Not anyone he knew personally, but  _ they _ , the Super people. The children of those who had once protected the world. 

Doc began to work, hard, tracking down the four teenagers that the UNSC were trying to track down. He needed to get there before them. He needed to take them away and put them safely in the Castle until they could protect themselves. 

He began to work.  It would take a lot of work. But every bit of it would be worth it. 


	2. Mediocre Middle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the 'main' part of this fanfiction, but the climax is next chapter. d(OuO)b Very long chapter, here we go.

 It had been three days. There were too many emotions for John’s father to name them all. No sign of his son had shown up. The police had questioned him most thoroughly, of course. When a boy goes missing in his own home, who is the most likely suspect but the father? There had been no trace of John. Run away, some claimed, but that wasn’t right, and no one who knew John believed it. 

 

 He cried a lot these days. It was his  _ son _ that was missing, his precious son, and he was so proud of him, of little John, only not so little now, no. Tall, and putting on muscle, and growing into his teeth and his glasses. A gentle giant. He couldn’t be more proud of his son. 

 

 But he didn’t give up hope that his son would come home. And when, on the third day, there came a knock at the front door, he was across the room and flinging open the door before the echo had died. 

 

 John wasn’t there (A piece of him knew he wouldn’t be.). In his place was a short, fat cara with a sash that proclaimed MAYOR, and clothing that looked like it had been gotten out of a dump. He was clean smelling, though, and looked friendly. He shoved his way past John’s dad, making quiet chittering noises in the back of his throat. 

 

 “Excuse me, good sir, who are you?” John’s dad asked. The cara turned and peered at him. 

 

 “Click click?” It asked. And then it shook its head. “Human! Not John, foolish human, I’m not here to speak to not-John humans!” 

 

 With that, it promptly headed for the stairs and took them two at a time. 

 

 “Hey! You can’t go up there!” John’s dad shook off his surprise and gave chase, but didn’t catch up before the cara found John’s room. It took a strange device out of its pocket and pointed it at various parts of the room. Seeing the empty room, just the way John had left it, made John’s father feel hollow and awful inside. 

  
  


 Continuing to click and chirp and chitter, the cara made its way around the house. John’s dad could only follow. Finally, though, the cara stopped and spun sharply, pointing the thing upwards, just above John’s dad’s head. 

 

 “Found! Found, found, found him, foolish not-John.” It cried out joyfully. 

 

 His heart lept into his throat. “You found John?”

 

 “Yes! Oh yes. Only, he does not seem to be here right now.” The cara pointed above John’s dad, and he turned and looked above himself. 

 

 There was nothing there. Confused, he reached up and waved his arm through the space. It was chilly there, as if there was some sort of draft there, but no humans. Certainly no John. 

 

 “Come, come, come, John-human.” The cara said, shoving his way past John’s dad back to the front door. He kept his thing pointed up, but moved it as if following a ghost. John would’ve loved it, John’s dad mused, it was so much like a Ghost Buster scene. “Yes, yes, Doc will help you get back to norma, come comel.”

 

 The cara walked out of the house, and got into a tiny car on the sidewalk. John’s dad stared after him, confused, and then slowly shut the door, unsure about what had just happened. Perhaps he should’ve offered the man coffee?

 

* * *

 

 

Doc would’ve sighed if he could’ve. The Harley girl had been found, but she was destroying anything that came near her. Strider was missing, and Lalonde was believed to be dead. He was really starting to hate having to intercept the UNSC’s messages. But it was the job that he must do. The job he was  _ made _ to do.

 

On the bright side, the Mayor was sure he’d found John. They were about five minutes away from the teleporter. He waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally, though, about ten minutes later, The Mayor came through the teleporter, along with an odd...gust of wind. The sensors noted it and Doc paid close attention the footage of the Mayor walking to the control room. 

 

The Mayor trotted into the room, and then stopped in there. Doc looked over his cameras, and, for the first time in a long time, felt almost...hopeful. 

 

“John Egbert?” He asked. There was no response, of course. “I know you’re trapped in your other form right now. You need to get untrapped. I promise that I’ll help you.” 

 

There was no visible response. But Doc didn’t mind. He could see, although his powers were….diminished. He could see it was John, and he could see that John  _ would _ get out of his form. It was a disappointment not to be able to see how, but it would work itself out. So Doc was content to play the waiting game. 

 

Doc kept constant watch over the gust of wind that moved around the Castle. He kept John confined to the control room and the Zodiac’s old rooms, but John seemed content enough in there. Doc talked to him a lot, reading out old manuals that explained how various powered people used their powers. 

 

If it helped, it certainly didn’t show. If Doc were anyone else, he would’ve been discouraged. 

 

Finally, the Mayor had had enough of waiting, and plopped down in front of a text-to-speech program. 

 

“JOHN HUMAN,” He started, and Doc rolled his digital eyes. “STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING THE WINDY THING STOP DOING TH-”

 

A particularly strong breeze flowed through the room, and Doc quickly shut off the program. Then he found something interesting. 

 

Jade Harley had a chat account. 

 

He glanced through it and found something else, even more interesting. She, Dave, Rose, and John were already friends with years of chat logs between the four of them. They were apparently very close friends. It seemed odd that the four of them had found each other, given their parents, but he suspected it was not something that had been chance. Someone had guided them to this friendship. 

 

He finally ‘sat down’ and contacted her, once he’d learned enough. Only, he did it through email. 

 

The request he sent he was simple. There was a powered that was trapped in a windy form, and he needed a machine to turn him back into a human. Jade was very, very interested, but she wasn’t sure that Doc wasn’t a spy for some organization, which was valid. 

 

But, eventually, he convinced her to come onto the castle, via a transporter she would build herself. It took a long time to gain her trust, and he had to promise she could bring Bec and whatever weaponry she needed. 

 

He was two for four. 

 

* * *

 

 

John hovered above the girl. He’d seen her so often in the camera, and he’d often hoped their first meeting would be at a park or something. Instead, it was after he’d gotten turning into literal wind by some sucky super powers he couldn’t control. (Well, he  _ could _ control them, more now than when he’d gotten there. Not enough to turn back, though.)

 

She was doing some pretty amazing things. She’d come on the ship a day or two ago, and was really rocking the shit out of….whatever she was building. It looked like some huge pipe organ. 

 

It was easier to tell the time with the computer guy’s clocks ticking away on every computer screen. He still couldn’t sleep, or really interact with anything unless he used his windy powers. It was boring, more than anything else, and he missed his dad a lot. Thinking about his dad wove a knot of worry into him every time. Doc talked nonstop, though, and that helped with the loneliness and the boredom. And some of the fear. 

 

John also had some idea of what was going on, now. Air manipulation, Doc had explained, with the ability to turn into air. Very rare, very useful, very cool. He would’ve given it up to be back home with dad and ghost busters and Nick Cage’s old movies, even if he was old enough to start realizing how dumb most of that stuff was. 

 

Jade rolled out from under the machine and got up. She took a deep breath, and pressed a button. The machine began to  _ pull _ at John, tugging him out of the air and bringing him into something  _ human _ and  _ right _ .

 

* * *

  
  


Jade was used to her things working. But it was still one hell of a shock when a boy popped out near the output pipe of the deairifier 2,000. She gaped at him, and he stared back. She knew this face, she realized, she knew it from countless skype calls and pictures and snap chats and videos. She  _ knew this face _ . 

 

“John?” She finally blurted. 

 

* * *

 

 

Doc had himself a chuckle as he listened to the two humans babble happily at each other, as if it were the greatest thing in the world to see one another. If he’d known it would make them that happy to see a friend, he might’ve tried to speed up the process. Perhaps he’d forgotten how important friendships were as his time as a computer. 

 

It was strange how the universe was working, tying up all the threads again, binding together the groups that made up the original ones, fixing things so everything went right….He suspected that maybe there was more at play then one would suspect. Many times, he wished being turned into an AI had not limited him so much. 

 

Still, he kept his thoughts away from the fact that there was almost certainly someone much bigger and more powerful than anyone on Earth. It wouldn’t be smart to poke around in business like  _ that _ . Heavens knows what powerful being he might anger if he tried to interfere. Avoiding things was much easier when one didn’t have complete omnipotence. 

 

Still, he couldn’t spend all his time looking at happy things and ignoring issues. He needed to find the other two. So, with a heavy heart, he turned his attention away from them, and he looked. 

 

* * *

 

 

“You are really much shorter than I assumed you would be. Would you like me to get you a box to stand on?” 

 

Dave pinched the bridge of his nose, and that was all the emotion he allowed himself to show as she showed him out of the airport. If he’d known Rose was as scathing in real life as she was in the digital one, he wouldn’t have asked her to pick him up. In all honesty, he was shocked as hell he’d made it this far and this long without Bro or the UNSC finding him. Someone was looking out for him. 

 

He followed Rose out to the parking lot, and into a taxi. They were both quiet as they rode. Dave was tense, stiff, hoping she wouldn’t ask him to remove his glasses or talk about the awkward angle of his left pinky or if Bro would be coming after him. How good would he lie to her face? Online was easy enough. But...To her face?

 

His thoughts were interrupted by Rose’s phone dinging. She looked at it, then raised an eyebrow. Dave’s dinged a moment after, and he checked it. 

 

_ Dave Strider, I know which airport you and Rose Lalonde are currently leaving. You will be pleased to know that the man driving you to a teleporter location is the same man who helped me insure that you wouldn’t be captured by the UNSC. He is going to take you to a secured location. You may not trust me, and to be honest, knowing me, I wouldn’t either. Not knowing me puts you at the distinct advantage of being statistically more likely to trust me than someone who knows me. But it is either The Castle or the UNSC. I have with me John Egbert and Jade Harley, whom you know from online. John told me to tell you to ‘not think of piss’ and Jade told me to tell you that you were ‘the coolest guy.’ Please consider my offer of protection and privacy. Signed, Doc Scratch.  _

 

Dave started to tremble as he stared at the phone. This was too much. All those times Bro said he was ‘training’ him, was this what it was for? For some bullshit between government institutions that were further away from his reality then the Secret Service? Running and keeping himself on the downlow was one thing, but going to some bulsshit ‘castle’? He bit down on his tongue and tried to count to one hundred. He’d barely made it to twelve before Rose touched his shoulder. Her hand was cool and soft, and he looked at her. 

 

“Put the bunny back in the box.” She whispered. Her eyes were distant, and stayed that way until Dave counted to fifty. Then they snapped back to Dave. “We’re going.”

 

Dave nodded, but the gesture felt just as distant as she had looked. He felt unreal and it made him sick to his stomach. Maybe he should’ve stayed in Texas.

 

* * *

 

There was only a single word for Dave when he first saw Jade Harley for the first time: Un fucking prepared.

 

She was way taller than he thought, and was totally strong enough to carry him in one arm. Her hair was thick, and tumbled down her back in a beautiful pony tail. Her skin was well tanned, and her grin was, it was out of everyone’s league. It made every other smile he’d seen seem stupid and weak. She was  _ glorious _ . Beautiful, spectacular, hot, pretty, cute. Her buckteeth and round glasses gave her a dorky vibe, but he had no doubt she could utterly destroy him if she wanted to. 

 

He swallowed, and tried his hardest to keep his voice cool and calm.

 

“Hey, Harley.” He said, voice squeaking a little. Rose made a little noise, an amused hum in the back of her throat, and he glared at her from out of the corner of his mouth. 

 

The moment he flicked his eyes forward again, something caught him up and squeezed him so hard his spine popped. 

 

“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Dave!” John said. Dave noted that his voice was one of those voices that just projected of its own free will. Well, he’d probably make it big as an actor or whatever the hell he wanted to be. John dropped Dave, and pulled Rose in for a huge, just as tight. “You too.”

 

Rose wrapped her arms around him and hugged back. 

 

“And you, dear Jonathan. Who knew that the twists and turns of the incorrigible miz fate herself would bring us together in a secret flying tower? Truly, I am blown out of the sky by this. If you’ll pardon the almost pun.” Rose said, gently disentangling herself from John. John laughed, and clapped her on the shoulder. She winced as he turned away, and mouthed an ‘ow’ at Dave. Dave allowed himself a smirk. 

 

“It’s so good to see you guys!” Jade said, shoving her way past John to wrap the other two up in her arms. She smelled, Dave noted, like grease and flowers. Which was a really odd combination, but not at all bad. 

 

“I’m pleased to see you too.” Rose said. “I do believe Dave is about to faint. Your muscles are destroying his fragile alpha male ego.”

 

“Fuck you, Lalonde.”

 

“You know, Frued always sai-”

 

“No.  _ Fuck _ you.” Dave flipped her off without looking at her. 

 

“I see. I misunderstood fuck for fuck. I am ashamed of myself. I think I’ll take the veil and retreat to a monastery for a few decades to rethink my entire life. Perhaps when I come out, I will be wise enough to tell fuck from fuck.”

 

“Fuck you, and fuck your stupid metaphors. Like, seriously fuck them. Fuck them up worse than Austraila fucked up when it went to war against the emus and lost like a bunch of damn losers.” Dave said, keeping his finger proudly displayed. 

 

“As much as I like hearing children go at each other like rabid dogs, we have important things to discuss. Such as who you are.” Said a metallic voice. John and Jade didn’t startle, but Dave’s hands jerked before he could stop them, reaching for a sword that wasn’t there, and Rose stiffened. “My name is Doc.”

 

“Doc Scratch.” Rose said evenly. Her voice was just too tight, though. Just, barely, too tight. Dave didn’t like it. 

 

“That’s right. I need you and your group to go rescue twelve other powered people. Lucky for you, the Zodiac is being held in a land containment center and will be for the next four days. We have that long to get you ready, and-”

 

“We need to go tomorrow night tonight.” Rose said. She held onto her dress so tight her knuckles were white. “If we don’t, we’ll be captured and put with them. English will win.”

 

Doc spent .3 seconds adjusting to the information. She was a seer, it appeared. 

 

“....Indeed.” He said. “You’ll go tomorrow night, then.”

 

“Wait a fuckin’ second.” Dave snapped. “What the fuck makes you think we’re going to team up with you?”

 

“I am omnipotent, all powerful being. There are several spots that are dark to me, of course, but I’ve learned about them later, and in every single case, the only reason it’s been dark was so that I could learn from not knowing something. I suspect I will learn the extent of Rose Lalonde’s powers from this.” Not the full truth, but close enough. 

 

“If you’re so all knowing, shouldn’t you already know her extended powers?”

 

“My expertise mostly pertains to events.”

 

“Do I detect a note of irritation in your voice?” Rose asked, smirking slightly. Dave mimicked her smirk. “However, we  _ will _ team up with him. Any other path leads to disaster. And we will win, as long as we do the correct things.”

 

“Do you care to fill your friends in on what must be done?” Doc asked,.

 

“Wait, I thought you knew.” Dave said. 

 

“I know what generally happens, yes, but I also know that it would affect you better coming from her rather than me.” Doc responded. 

 

Dave had no answer. Rose closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then sighed quietly and opened them. 

 

“John and Jade go to rescue most of the people. Dave and myself will go to the infirmary. We  _ must _ go tomorrow night. If we don’t, it...Won’t go well. Most of us will die or get captured, and in some cases, all of us will die.”

 

“It looks like you have until tomorrow night to get a handle on your powers.”

 

“John and I have been practicing on his. He can get in and out of the air form at will, kinda.” Jade broke in. “And I’ve had  _ years _ to practice mine.”

 

“Mine comes to me unbidden.” Rose said. She sounded both mysterious and miserable, which Dave decided must be how she normally sounded. 

 

“Then it sounds like Dave is the only one who truly needs to practice, although I already knew that.” Doc said. “I believe he is the most physically trained one out of all of you. Dave, you are aware of what your power is, aren’t you?” 

 

“Time travel.” Dave said, looking down at the ground. He could remember the slick, hot blood on the wall,  _ Bro’s _ blood, and the dead agent with UNSC stamped proudly on her back. Ice trickled down his back and he hunched up his shoulders. Throat constricting, heart racing, goose bumps rising, all the text book panic attack symptoms, but Striders did  _ not _ have panic attacks. 

 

“That is very useful. Do you know how to use it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Please do so.” 

 

“I can’t, do it like that. I need to…” Dave fumbled for the word for a moment, then someone stepped into the room behind them. He turned and raised his eyebrows above his cracked glasses. It was himself, looking very pale and with torn clothes. 

 

“Loop.” Other Dave said. “Can’t just do it on a whim. You gotta loop it with another you. He can’t travel in the past unless he’s seen one of him from the future.”

 

“...What he said.” Dave said, looking back forward. “And I know when I need to loop. It’s like a time bomb in my chest.”

 

And oh, his chest  _ hurt _ . Other Dave left, whisked away by his superior usage of time. Doc was talking, but Dave wasn’t listening. Eventually, it was decided that they would leave the next day, if only because Rose was sure that they would suffer if they didn’t. 

  
  


Jade watched Dave carefully. After a meal and a bath, they’d all gathered in an old training room to practice their powers. Everyone had been wowed by hers, and John had practiced his transforming abilities and control of air for a while, but he was getting the hang of it quick. 

 

Actually,  _ too _ quick. Jade suspected that he’d been using his powers unintentionally for a while. A breeze that cooled him off, papers that stopped blowing in the wind when he reached for them, leaves blowing in just the right way to make a decent pile, all the candles on a cake blowing out at once...Little things that had been going on for years. Or he was just very, very skilled. His wake up call had been the waking of his final powers, she decided, just straight up turning into air. 

 

But her focus was on Dave. Because he had  _ not _ been using his powers. In fact, he was struggling to complete his loops. They found out quick that he  _ could _ travel forward in time, and occasionally, he would just pop in for a few seconds, and then back out. Dave clearly wasn’t comfortable doing it, though, so Jade quickly moved them on from that.  

 

They cheered him on for several hours, until he could manage to complete an entire loop with complete ease. 

 

Then they tiredly stuffed themselves full of gross rations and hit the sack.

 

* * *

 

 

Jade was very worried. She’d been using her powers for a long time. She knew that she was reliable. But as impressive as John’s control was, he was still new at it, and Dave clearly had more issues then he let on over the internet. Not that that was bad, no, and she loved him dearly. He was one of her closest friends, and she’d never imagined that she could meet all of them. But... _ but _ they were going up against highly trained people who were trained to deal with powered people and they were still teenagers, all of them, even if they were  _ older _ teenagers. 

  
She sighed and closed her eyes and curled up in her bed and wished that she had brought Bec with her. The next day would be very, very big. 


	3. The End

 

Now that he had the hang of it, John had  _ fun _ with the whole ‘being able to turn into wind’ deal. It was disorienting at worst but he was getting over that quick. He grinned as he came down to rest in his human form in front of the Holding Cell. Getting past security had been a blast, and with Jade taking care of the guards, he wouldn’t be bothered. Hopefully. 

 

There were twelve individual ‘slots’, eight filled and four empty. The people in the cages were bound, each in a different way. One was literally strapped to a wall with what looked like iron, like something out of X-Man. John looked around, and found the ‘release’ panel. 

 

“I’m here.” He muttered, stepping up to the panel. He waited for a moment, then the ear piece crackled to life, and he let out a sigh of relief. 

 

“Excellent. Enter the code CG612-413EB. Then click the red button.” Doc said. John obeyed, typing out the letters as they were spoken. His fingers hesitated over the red button. Then he smacked it.

 

The cells jumped to life, doors opening and locks disengaging. The first one out was a boy, rather short, with dark bags under his eyes and a look that was somewhere between mortified and terrified. 

 

“Who the  _ fuck _ are you?” He ask-screamed. John shushed him, pressing a finger to his lips. 

 

“I’m John. I’m here to get you out.”

 

“You’re going to get all of us fucking killed, you brainless, shit faced scum.” The guy hissed. Another boy, taller, stepped up next to him and grabbed his shoulder. 

 

“Kar, we need to find Fef. And the others.” The other said, shaking ‘Kar’s’ shoulder.

 

“Oh, you must be Karkat. Nice to meet you.” John said. He was unsure if he should offer his hand. His father had said it was polite, but Karkat didn’t seem like the sort of guy who’d appreciate the gesture. Actually, he looked pretty close to snarling from the previous politeness. 

 

The other guy spoke up, elbowing his way past Karkat. “I’m Eridan Ampora. This is Equius, Nepeta, Fuckface-”

 

“Fuck  _ you _ , my name is Sollux.”

 

“Gamzee, Terezi, and Kanaya.” He said, ignoring an interruption from a scowling guy who was way too skinny to be alive. 

 

John looked around the group. Every single person looked tired, scared, and dirty. He winced, and looked back at Eridan. 

 

“Feferi and the others are getting rescued by another team.” He said. 

 

“Wait one ass biting moment.” Karkat snapped. At least two people groaned. 

 

“I’m surprised your voice hasn’t gone hoarse!” Chirped the girl identified as Terezi. She has bright red hair and looked like she was trying very hard to hide how close she was too collapsing. “Between all the torture howls and cursing out those poor guards. Your father is rolling over in his grave, Vantas!”

 

“Shut the  _ fuck _ up, Pyrope! They sent  _ one guy _ for eight of us! Am I the only one who finds that a little bit suspicious? Yes? Great! Fucking  _ great _ , I don’t know how you morons have lived long enough to get caught by these scum sucking, shit for brains, incompetent assholes! What, did you have your mommy wiping the shit off your asses for you?”

 

“I ain’t got a mommy.” Said Gamzee, a lanky boy with dangerous eyes and a sharp grin. His eyes never left Karkat, and John realized they hadn’t since they’d come out of the cages. In fact, most of the people were watching Karkat. It was as if Karkat was a sun, and everyone else revolved around him. 

 

“Shut up! SHUT UP! All of you  _ shut up! _ ” Karkat screamed. His voice bounced off the walls, and John winced. Then Karkat broke into a coughing fit, doubling over. Gamzee was the first to move, stepping over and rubbing his back. 

 

Somewhere, something nearby banged against the wall. Then the doors slid open, and Jade bounced into the room. She had a smear of blood on her cheek, and her shotgun was strapped to her back. The knife was drawn, and coated with blood. She smiled weakly at John. 

 

“Hey! T.G. and T.T. are getting the others out. Now, what say I give you all a hand?” 

 

“And, how-” Karkat sucked in a breath. “Would you do that?”

 

Jade’s smile grew, and she lifted up her hands. 

 

* * *

 

“No, don’t step there. Take two steps to your right, and then one to your left.” Rose watched Dave with a calm expression, even though her stomach was attempting to rebel. She watched Dave through the cameras. Hitting the camera room had been easy. It had one man, who left to go to the bathroom, and who she knew wouldn’t be back. He’d come across Jade. 

 

(She’d seen his death a thousand times, in different ways. He would die. It was a fixed event. Something that  _ must _ happen.)

 

Dave was starting to show wear. He had to fight each fight several times. Each time one fight ended, he had to travel back to the start of it to fight it again. She’d counted as many as five Daves in one fight. Now, in the infirmary, there was just one of him. It made her sick to think about, because he was supposed to come  _ back _ once the fight was over, and he  _ didn’t _ , which obviously meant he died, only, They told her that he lived through the fight, as long as he followed her directions. 

 

Then something happened. The entire room froze. Except - A pretty girl with dark, curly hair, who was rather plump. She slid out of one of the beds, and swayed where she stood. Then she waved a hand, and Dave stumbled back into motion. His sword sliced through someone’s stomach, and he jerked back. 

 

The girl was saying something, but Rose couldn’t tell what. Still, there was nothing from the horrorterrors. This wasn’t something that was going to lead them to certain death. 

 

Rose waited. And waited, and waited. Eventually, the girl and Dave stopped talking. Then the girl looked up at the camera, and smiled. Rose, and everything around her, paused in time. 

 

* * *

 

John and Jade did not see Rose and Dave until the base, as per the plan. When they reached the base, though, Rose and Dave were already there. Doc informed them the moment they stepped through the teleporter. 

 

“You will be most pleased to know that your friends made it back. They are in the infirmary with the infirm.” Doc said. “I assume you got the rest of the prisoners.”

 

“Yup!” Jade said. 

 

“Thank you. Please bring them to the infirmary.”

 

Jade and John exchanged glances, then followed the halls to the infirmary. Rose and Dave were there, as were three girls and a boy. 

 

“Ah, here the illustrious heroes are now.” Rose said, waving a hand at them. “John, Jade, this is Vriska, our resident mind controller with exemplary luck, Aradia, a time traveler, Tavros, who can talk to animals-”

 

“Total Snow White shit, yo.” Dave said. “And that girl over there is Feferi. Show us your loot.”

 

“Dave, they’re not loot!” Jade said, rolling her eyes. He swallowed, and though John couldn’t see behind his glasses, he was sure his eyes were glued on Jade. 

 

Jade pulled a small box out of her pocket and opened it up. She stepped back, ‘camaraed’ her fingers, and the next moment there was a spark of green. The ex-prisoners zapped back to their normal size, and most fell on their asses. Terezi saved herself by landing against a wall. 

 

“Fef!” Eridan cried, scrambling up to his feet. Her face twisted, looking conflicted for a moment, then just plain pissed.  _ Oh boy _ , John thought. 

 

“Eridan Ampora!” She said back. Eridan winced and then scowled back and crossed his arms.

 

However, before they could commence with the fight they looked to be gearing up to,  Doc interrupted. 

 

“While I know that this fight will determine the rest of your relationships for the rest of your life, Eridan, Feferi, and Sollux, I need you to put away your petty differences and crushes. Actually, this is advice you could all use. 

 

“I know you are a rocky group, and that you all know each other, at least through each other, but you need to realize something. The fate of the world relies on your group. Quite literally, if you refuse to fight with each other, no one will be capable of protecting the world, and you will all die quick, painful deaths.

 

“For now, you all need to rest. Please find yourself a bed to rest on and try to ignore each other for the time being.” 

 

Before anyone could protest, Doc started to blare industrial fan sounds, effectively muffling everyone. Karkat tried for several minutes to shriek over them, but was quickly coaxed into bed by Gamzee. John and his three friends left the room and headed to the control room. 

 

* * *

 

The debriefing was short (We got everyone, UNSC didn’t follow us, and we’re safe but not for long.), and ended in everyone returning to their own rooms. The rooms were sterile - simply a bed, a dresser with clothes, and lamp. Once in his, John sagged against the door. He was exhausted, tired to the bone.

  
He slowly let go of his hold on his body, and flowed into the air. A sense of peace filled him, and he knew he wouldn’t be returning to his human form any time soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! That's it for this fanfiction! If you'd like to be tagged in future updates (I think my next huge fic I tackle will be Voltron...) hope over to my blog () and lemme know!
> 
> I know it was paced weirdly, but this is...really just here so I have a stage for which I can write a bunch of oneshots. I really just want this universe established so I can do my fun stuff with it, and this is kinda my first larger fic, so I'm not skilled at pacing yet. 
> 
> tl;dr: This is far from the end and this fic is more of an overview so people know what the universe looks like! 
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm really proud of it, and I can't wait to hear what other people think!


End file.
